Organizers of the Tainan May Jam (
Since its inception in 1999 the event has been plagued by weather related misfortune and gained a reputation as the most rained-on outdoor music festival in Taiwan. Inclement weather has forced organizers to change the name of the festival three times over the past five years. What was initially known as the "July Jam," then became known as the "June Jam" and in 2003 the event was renamed for a third and final time and became the "May Jam."
"Originally we didn't want to hold the event so close to Spring Scream. We planned for it to be a mid-summer music festival, but every year the weather kept causing us problems," said event founder Axel Schunn. "Since we rescheduled the event for May we've had no problems with rain or typhoons, though, and last year we had our best ever turnout."
The Tainan May Jam will once again be offering audiences a smorgasbord of musical genres to enjoy over the two-day period. From heavy rock to jazz, from blues to punk and from wedding music and Bossa Nova, organizers have booked a wide range of bands with very contrasting sounds.
In all 29 acts are set to take the stage in Tainan this weekend and while the list is far too extensive to go into in any great detail some of the highlights will include performances by Tainan's long serving blues/rock combo Charlie Swiggs, the improvisational jazz/rock four-piece, the Jetlaggers, the acid-jazz artist Chekov, Brit-pop styled guitar rock combo Tsunami, the nu-metal band Jindowin and dance act Orenda.
Along with the bands, the Tainan May Jam will be showcasing the talents of a local all female cheerleading squad, which will be going through its highflying paces and, no doubt, causing a few heads to turn in the process. The event will also feature several more classically oriented musical acts as well a performance by a local theatrical troupe.
"There are no parameters to what types of performances can be staged at the Jam," said Schunn. "Some of it is professional and some of it is bad, but it really doesn't matter, as it's the variety of acts that is important."
Although the festival site is not an officially designated campsite those who do wish to pitch a tent and stay at the site overnight are, according to organizers, more than welcome. Would-be campers should be warned, however, that sanitation facilities are sparse.
Organizers are keeping their fingers crossed that this year's event will beat the odds and prove to be a sun-drenched success, but regardless of the outcome this is the last time the event will be free and staged at the remote and amenity sparse Choumao Park. According to Schunn, from next year the Tainan May Jam will be held in a seaside resort north of Tainan.
If rain does force organizers to cancel this weekend's event, then the Tainan Jam will take place on Sunday, May 8. For a full band schedule, further information and any last minute rescheduling due to inclement weather checkout the May Jam website at: www2.eecs.stut.edu.tw/~charlie.
Performance notes:
What: Tainan May Jam
Where: Tainan City, Anping District, Choumao Yuan.
The best way to get the site is either by taxi, which costs roughly NT$200 from downtown Tainan or to take a number 2 Tainan City bus from the railway station.
When: Tomorrow and Sunday from midday to 10pm.
Tickets: Admission is free.
In late October of 1873 the government of Japan decided against sending a military expedition to Korea to force that nation to open trade relations. Across the government supporters of the expedition resigned immediately. The spectacle of revolt by disaffected samurai began to loom over Japanese politics. In January of 1874 disaffected samurai attacked a senior minister in Tokyo. A month later, a group of pro-Korea expedition and anti-foreign elements from Saga prefecture in Kyushu revolted, driven in part by high food prices stemming from poor harvests. Their leader, according to Edward Drea’s classic Japan’s Imperial Army, was a samurai
The following three paragraphs are just some of what the local Chinese-language press is reporting on breathlessly and following every twist and turn with the eagerness of a soap opera fan. For many English-language readers, it probably comes across as incomprehensibly opaque, so bear with me briefly dear reader: To the surprise of many, former pop singer and Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) ex-lawmaker Yu Tien (余天) of the Taiwan Normal Country Promotion Association (TNCPA) at the last minute dropped out of the running for committee chair of the DPP’s New Taipei City chapter, paving the way for DPP legislator Su
Located down a sideroad in old Wanhua District (萬華區), Waley Art (水谷藝術) has an established reputation for curating some of the more provocative indie art exhibitions in Taipei. And this month is no exception. Beyond the innocuous facade of a shophouse, the full three stories of the gallery space (including the basement) have been taken over by photographs, installation videos and abstract images courtesy of two creatives who hail from the opposite ends of the earth, Taiwan’s Hsu Yi-ting (許懿婷) and Germany’s Benjamin Janzen. “In 2019, I had an art residency in Europe,” Hsu says. “I met Benjamin in the lobby
It’s hard to know where to begin with Mark Tovell’s Taiwan: Roads Above the Clouds. Having published a travelogue myself, as well as having contributed to several guidebooks, at first glance Tovell’s book appears to inhabit a middle ground — the kind of hard-to-sell nowheresville publishers detest. Leaf through the pages and you’ll find them suffuse with the purple prose best associated with travel literature: “When the sun is low on a warm, clear morning, and with the heat already rising, we stand at the riverside bike path leading south from Sanxia’s old cobble streets.” Hardly the stuff of your